PRAEFECTUS URBI

praefectus urbi (pri-fek-t[schwa]s [schwa]r-bI). [Latin “prefect of the city”] Roman law. A senator charged with keeping law and order in the city of Rome. • This duty originated in the early Empire. The praefectus had both criminal and civil jurisdiction; the latter was gradually taken over from the praetor, although the praefectus’s civil jurisdiction was […]